This Chuseok Table Setting Costs 220,000 Won at Traditional Markets and 280,000 Won at Large Supermarkets

For 6-7 People, Prices Up by 10,000-20,000 KRW Compared to Last Equipment Cost
Traditional Market Fruits 13% Cheaper, Beef and Other Livestock Products 29% Cheaper
Garak Market Garak Mall Has the Lowest Prices for Livestock and Greens

Five days before the Chuseok holiday, Kyungdong Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, is bustling with citizens shopping for ancestral rites supplies. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] "There isn’t a single thing that hasn’t gone up in large supermarkets. Let’s try visiting nearby traditional markets."

The dual-income couple Seo Yoon-cheol and Park Yoon-jin (pseudonyms) alternated between a nearby large supermarket and a traditional market last weekend to prepare for the Chuseok ancestral rites table. Since Seo is the eldest grandson, most memorial services and ancestral rites are held at his home. Last Lunar New Year, they spent about 300,000 won shopping only at a large supermarket, but this Chuseok, expenses seem likely to increase. Nothing from fruits to meat and eggs was exempt from price hikes. By shopping around and comparing prices, they managed to save 50,000 won.

According to a survey conducted on the 6th by the Seoul Agricultural & Marine Products Corporation targeting major traditional markets, large supermarkets, and Garak Market’s Garak Mall, covering 36 key seasonal items (based on a family of 6-7), only four items were cheaper at large supermarkets than at traditional markets: rice (1kg), flour (2.5kg), somyeon noodles (900g), and sikhye (sweet rice drink, 1.8L). Even then, the price differences were not significant; rice was 300 won cheaper at large supermarkets (5,161 won) compared to traditional markets (5,493 won), somyeon was 37 won cheaper, and sikhye was about 100 won cheaper. The other 32 items were cheaper at traditional markets. Fruits were on average 13% cheaper, radish and napa cabbage 18%, and livestock products such as beef, pork, and poultry were 29% less expensive.

Looking at specific items, the price of apples at traditional markets (based on 3 apples weighing 400g each) was 8,616 won, 10.5% cheaper than the 9,630 won at large supermarkets. For jujubes, traditional markets charged 2,356 won per 100g, over 15% less than the 2,783 won at large supermarkets.

The price gap was even larger for livestock products like beef and pork. The price of 300g of domestic beef for soup at large supermarkets was 27,050 won, whereas it was 18,459 won at traditional markets, 32% cheaper. Prices for pork and chicken were also about 27% lower at traditional markets.

In particular, vegetables were priced at about half in traditional markets compared to large supermarkets. The price of 300g of boiled bracken at traditional markets was 4,746 won, while it reached 8,792 won at large supermarkets. Spinach (400g) was more than twice as expensive at large supermarkets at 12,451 won compared to 5,811 won at traditional markets. The price of frozen pollack (500g) for fish markets was also over 25% cheaper at traditional markets, and squid and dried pollack strips were 20% and 10% cheaper, respectively.

Both large supermarkets and traditional markets saw price increases compared to the previous year for fruits such as pears, dried persimmons, and jujubes, as well as livestock products like beef, pork, and eggs. However, prices for vegetables such as radish, napa cabbage, green onions, and some frozen pollack and squid decreased compared to the previous year.

Accordingly, the estimated cost for a Chuseok table setting for 6-7 people was 283,616 won at large supermarkets, 224,181 won at traditional markets, and 208,632 won at Garak Mall. Garak Mall’s prices for livestock products such as beef, pork, and poultry, as well as for vegetables like bracken and balloon flower root, were particularly lower than other purchasing locations. For a 3-4 person household, the expected costs were 166,149 won at large supermarkets and 134,364 won at traditional markets. Compared to the Lunar New Year table setting costs surveyed by the same organization (261,821 won at large supermarkets and 211,245 won at traditional markets), this represents a slight increase of about 10,000 to 20,000 won.